transporter

Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

n. One who, or that which transports.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

n. One who transports.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

n. A trade-name of a special type of derrick-boom. It may be an I-beam, the lower flange of which serves as a track for a traveling hoisting-carriage, or a hollow beam having a track suspended from the under side; and it can be used as a derrick-boom, or may be suspended from a gallows-frame or from another derrick. It employs a traveling hoisting-carriage resembling one used in a cableway.

n. In machinery, in general, any carrying device, as one used for transporting coal from one vessel to another.

The funny thing about the transporter is that Gene Roddenberry wanted to do the shuttle-landing sequence, but the miniatures SFX were too expensive to shoot, so they came up with the transporter as a cheaper solution.